Dr. Juan Manuel Garcia received his medical degree from the University of Rosario in Bogota, Colombia. He later was a visiting research associate at the University of Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary where he actively participated in the Neurotology Section from 1984 to 1985. Furthermore, he graduated as an Otolaryngologist from the University of Rosario. He decided to focus his training in Otology and Neurotology, and earned his fellowship at the Fundación Universitaria de Ciencias de la Salud ( Health Sciences University ) in Bogotá. He was a visiting fellow at the Silverstein Ear Institute, the University of Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary and the University of Miami Ear Institute. Dr. Garcia was the President of the 34th Pan-American Congress in 2014; he was the Chair of the Pan-American Committee of the American Academy of Otolaryngology from 2014-2016. Currently, he is the chair of the Departmet of Otolaryngology at Fundación Santa Fé de Bogotá, and a clinical professor of the Faculty of Medicine at University of Los Andes, as well as the past Director of the Otology Neurotology and professor of fellowship program at the Fundacion Universitaria de Ciencias de la Salud in Bogotá . He is a corresponding Member of the American Academy of Otolaryngology (AAO-HNS ) and nominated Ambassador of the Academy in 2011, and likewise Fellow of the American Neurotology Society and past the Vice – president of the Panamerican Association of Otolayngology. He is currently IFOS representative in South America . He received an Honor Award from the the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery in September 2025 for his outstanding contributions and volunteer service to the Academy of the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.

He performed the first cochlear implant surgery in Colombia in 1992 and organized a renowned Cochlear Implant program. Alongside with his team, he has visited many Latin American countries and several hospitals and clinics around Colombia, to train and help them organize their own cochlear implant and implantable hearing devices programs. He has been invited to share his scientific experience as a guest speaker and faculty in various national and international meetings and congresses aound the world . The main research interest and publications of his group are in cochlear implants and implantable hearing devices. In fact, his publications include more than 50 scientific articles and book chapters, and he is a co-author of a published book on Otorhinolaryngology, which is vastly read and studied throughout Latin America and Colombia.